In research, there is often incentive for immediate but specialized results. But I have found, both in smaller tasks and in general project direction, that taking the time to develop a robust solution can save time and improve results in the end.

In my first undergraduate research experience, I had the luxury of exploring a previously demonstrated technique. Under the direction of Kenneth Sandhage at Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Materials Science and Engineering (Atlanta Ga.), I worked to further demonstrate the displacive compensation of porosity process (DCP)—a sort of alchemy by which a porous ceramic preform can produce a dense composite with the same dimensions.